S. Korea’s ministry on N. Korea under more cyber threats

SEOUL, Oct. 3 (Yonhap) -- The number of hacking attempts against South Korea's ministry handling North Korea affairs has jumped sharply over the past three years, government data showed Wednesday.

The Ministry of Unification came under a total of 1,518 cyberattacks from 2014 through August 2018, according to a ministry report submitted to Rep. Park Byeong-seug of the ruling Democratic Party.

The number totaled 315 in 2014 and dropped to 172 in 2015. But it rebounded to 260 in 2016 and increased to 336 the following year. The number of cases had already been tallied at 435 in the first eight months of this year.

Of them, the number of attempted attacks for system information collection reached 147 between January and August, an 11-fold increase from the 12 recorded in the same period last year.

There has been no actual damage from such attacks, however, the report said.

"(The ministry) should draw up thorough measures to prevent damage from cyberattacks," the lawmaker said.